Being Green

Being Green - 26 Mar 2021

The energy landscape has been thrown into high relief by the Coronavirus pandemic. Of course we know that, the “economy” has suffered a major disruption, income from tourism plummeting, shutdowns and lockdowns, economic shocks of all descriptions have had their effects across the board. Conservation of biodiversity just one of…

26 Mar 2021 5 min

Being Green - 19 Mar 2021

In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook speaks to Michal Šťastný of the Safari Park Dvůr Králové in the Czech Republic about an experimental project underway at two zoos on opposite sides of the country. To make up for the lack of interaction under Covid-19 restrictions, they are live streaming…

19 Mar 2021 8 min

Being Green - 12 Mar 2021

They are throwing huge boulders into the sea just off the coast of Britain, near Brighton in the English Channel. Who are they? GREENPEACE, the environmental activists and botherers. Why are they doing this? Well, it really annoys the British fishing industry, and the fishing police get very cross.

12 Mar 2021 4 min

Being Green - 05 Mar 2021

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Georgina Smit, head of technical at the Green Building Council of SA, about a pop-up building that is currently on display in the Green Point Urban Park. It was the winning design in the ultimate ‘clean green home’ competition,…

5 Mar 2021 6 min

Being Green - 26 Feb 2021

Some environment-related news events and community happenings that have turned up in this bizarre period of we-are-about-to-be un-locked-down but not-just yet. The green energy debate has continued to run in circles in America, despite (or perhaps because of) the announcement from President Biden that he would re-enter the USA as…

26 Feb 2021 5 min

Being Green - 19 Feb 2021

The race for South Africa’s Green Economy is on, though you would be forgiven for not really noticing it. But it is happening, say proponents of the Green Economy, and they’re getting on with it while most of us have our heads buried in the complexities of vaccine politics.

19 Feb 2021 5 min

Being Green - 12 Feb 2021

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to arborist and Chairman of the Friends of the Arderne Gardens, Francois Krige, about efforts to save a 150-year-old Cork Oak which fell over recently. It is one of six so-called Champion Trees in the garden, a designation given to…

12 Feb 2021 7 min

Being Green - 05 Feb 2021

In Being Green, we go back to a story from last year about hundreds of elephants dying in Botswana’s Okavango Delta region. Following tests in specialist laboratories in South Africa, Canada, Zimbabwe and the US, the authorities announced the cause to be the ingestion of cyanobacteria at water holes. In…

5 Feb 2021 7 min

Being Green - 29 Jan 2021

Hullo fr me, JR & Bng Grn. With The Vaccine on the horizon – hold thumbs – perhaps we can breathe a little easier. And now that the dust is settling around the U S Capitol and the White House (Is it?), my mind returns to the big picture.

29 Jan 2021 4 min

Being Green - 22 Jan 2021

Table Mountain is so very much part of our lives as Capetonians that perhaps we almost forget that we have this incredible UNESCO World Heritage Site right in front of us, dominating the city. In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook speaks to Marie Abraham, environmental control officer at the…

22 Jan 2021 6 min

Being Green - 15 Jan 2021

The news gets better every day. Well we have to believe in something. The negative psychological toll on our mental well-being in this time of the plague is difficult to quantify, but I feel it is huge.

15 Jan 2021 5 min

Being Green - 08 Jan 2021

In this week’s edition of Being Green, Glynis Crook speaks to Gabriella Leighton of the Urban Caracal Project. To find out more about the organisation’s work, you can go to: www.urbancaracal.org.

8 Jan 2021 6 min

Being Green - 01 Jan 2021

www.compology.com Greetings from me, JR, on this designated day. About the only thing we can say with certainty about the year ahead – it’s not a leap-year. As common-sense would suggest, the extraordinary disruption of the pan-demic didn’t impact as disastrously on the state of the environment as some prophets…

1 Jan 2021 3 min

Being Green - 31 Dec 2021

PROUDLY SPONSORED BY GERLINDE MOSER OF RE/MAX. Being Green – Your window on the environment broadcast every Friday morning at 9.30. Glynis Crook will focus on key issues affecting our lifestyles, science and research outcomes, the quest for sustainable living and a healthier planet.

31 Dec 2020 5 min

Being Green - 25 Dec 2020

In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook speaks to Michael Stausholm, founder of the Danish start-up “Sprout”, that has come up with the incredible idea of growing Christmas trees and other plants from pencils. They are made from sustainably harvested wood that have a plant-based capsule at the end of…

25 Dec 2020 6 min

Being Green - 18 Dec 2020

www.globalcarbonproject.org The Main Emergency Feature Continues… Amid the shock-horror reports of the new peak – practically world-wide – in Covid-19 infections and the inevitable death score, the United Nations kept the flag flying on climate-change action in their virtual top-level meeting, “Climate Ambition Summit”. Attended by 71 governments, the Summit…

18 Dec 2020 5 min

Being Green - 11 Dec 2020

In Being Green this week, we learn about the ancient Japanese art of furoIn Being Green this week, we learn about the ancient Japanese art of furoshiki. The traditional cloths have been used for centuries to transport food, clothes and gifts. And today, they are increasingly being embraced as a…

11 Dec 2020 8 min

Being Green - 04 Dec 2020

Good news about climate change for a change. When I look at trees I somehow feel…well not exactly happy, rather relieved or reassured. There’s something about trees, forests, coppices, trees in a garden, trees in a park, trees in the wind, trees on the veld that is, somehow companionable. The…

4 Dec 2020 5 min

Being Green - 27 Nov 2020

In Being Green this week, Glynis Crook speaks to Cape Town entrepreneur, Vusumzi Mahlatshana, who uses the alien invasive species, the Prickly Pear, to make everything from bricks, to insulating material, lamps and even jewellery. To find out more about Cactu-tecture, you can visit his website: www.pricklypearproducts.co.za, or find him…

27 Nov 2020 6 min

Being Green - 20 Nov 2020

www.esrl.noaa.gov Strong Plea for Aggressive Investment in the Climate Emergency From time to time here on BEING GREEN we’ve checked in on the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The agreed best site, most reliable, most credible, is the NOAA’s GLOBAL MONITORING LABORATORY. The benchmark carbon dioxide reading from the Mauna Loa…

20 Nov 2020 5 min